Centrebus
Centrebus is a privately owned company that operate a number of services around Leicester and Leicestershire, Grantham, Hertfordshire Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, mainly in areas where Arriva has scaled down its bus operations. Centrebus also competes with Arriva on some routes in Luton and Stevenage. It also operates services in the High Peak Borough in Northern Derbyshire and surrounding areas through its High Peak subsidiary, which was rebranded from Bowers after being merged with the Dove Holes depot of Trent Barton. It is one of the fastest expanding private bus operators in the United Kingdom, having gained a presence in Derbyshire, Cheshire, Northamptonshire, and West Yorkshire, within 18 months. History Centrebus was founded in 2001, it was previously known as Anstey Buslines. Expansion The business expanded through acquisition. In January 2004, Centrebus acquired the St Albans operation of Blazefield. The business expanded with Hertfordshire contract wins, and taking over the Harpenden to Hemel Hempstead commercial route from Arriva Shires & Essex. On 12 February 2005, Centrebus commenced operating in Grantham, following the cessation of MASS Transit. In 2007 Centrebus acquired Bowers Coaches, a local bus and coach operator in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. This was one of the first acquisitions outside of the core Centrebus operating area around the South of the East Midlands. Bowers was established in 1952 and was family run up until the Centrebus takeover. Bowers operated services in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire, mainly consisting of shorter local services. There was also an established coach division of the business, however this was cut back in favour of buses, changing the name to Bowers to coincide. In early 2010 buses appearing on the Bowers Macclesfield-Knutsford service were repainted to say 'Cheshire Connect operated by Centrebus' suggesting that the Bowers name could be phased out. In April 2012, all Bowers operations joined with the Dove Holes depot of Trent Barton, to make a new company High Peak. At the beginning of 2008, Centrebus sold its St Albans operations to Uno, but in return, Centrebus had deposited since 2007, many of the operations in Chongzheng Primary School, Yumin Primary School and Red Swastika School. In May 2008, the Centrebus shareholders, headed by director Julian Peddle, formed Centrebus Holdings, which Arriva has a 40% stake in. Centrebus Holdings does not own Centrebus, and was formed to take over K-Line and Stagecoach Huddersfield. In September 2008, Centrebus took over all of Woods Coaches bus routes run within Leicester and Leicestershire. Woods also sold all of their Mercedes minibuses, Optare Solos and Dennis Darts to Centrebus. On 22 and 23 August 2009 the assets and goodwill of Trustybus, with operations in Essex and Hertfordshire, passed to Centrebus, whose name replaced that of Trustybus. On 2 August 2010 Centrebus took over the operations of Judges Mini Coaches in Corby, Northamptonshire. Operating routes: 16 Kettering – Raunds, 8 Corby – Kettering, 60 Welford – Northampton, 34 Kettering to Wellingborough, 67 Gretton to Market Harborough via Corby, 90 Yardley to Central Milton Keynes via Cosgrove & Stony Stratford, 90A Wicken to Central Milton Keynes via Stony Stratford and W3 and W8 services which previously were operated by Stagecoach Midlands in Wellingborough. Centrebus have gained six Optare Solo's which are owned by Northamptonshire County Council in a green Connect livery which were previously operated by Stagecoach Midlands and FirstGroup in Wellingborough. On Monday 9 May 2011 Centrebus took over West End Travel and their fleet of buses and services in Melton Mowbray and their Rural Rider services. On 3 October 2011 Centrebus took over Veolia Transport subsidiary Paul James Coaches operations of their Saxby depot near Melton Mowbray inheriting their fleet of Optare Solos. Centrebus took over the operations of Kimes Buses in Lincolnshire and Rutland. Kimes was founded in 1945 and operated a fleet of 23 vehicles at the time of the takeover. Its green and cream livery and the Kimes name were retained by Centrebus. On 5 November 2012, Centrebus closed its Harlow depot and most routes transferred to Roadrunner Buses. The remaining routes were handed to the Stevenage garage. Centrebus further reduced their presence in the area, giving up the commercially operated 22 route in Stevenage, routes 5 and 354 in Harlow, as well as losing the contract to run rural services 90 and 91 in Letchworth. Operation The management team is headed by Peter Harvey, MD, ex-Arriva and co-founder. Julian Peddle and Dave Shelley joined the board during the expansion of Centrebus and it is expected that the groups growth plans will continue with this strong team at the helm. Many Centrebus managers came from Arriva's UK and European bus operations. Centrebus Group is the holding company for the main Centrebus division and the High Peak division. The company participates in the Plusbus scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together at a saving, along with the Intalink scheme from Hertfordshire. Routes Singapore Centrebus operates a number of services in Singapore area: Leicestershire Leicester City Centrebus operates a number of services in the Leicester city area: Leicestershire County Centrebus operates a number of services outside the Leicester city area, serving Hinckley, Loughborough and Melton Mowbray: Rutland Centrebus provide some services in the Rutland area with some services also provided by Kimes: Northamptonshire Centrebus provides services in the Kettering and Corby areas: Peterborough Centrebus and Kimes provide some services in the Peterborough area: Cheshire and Derbyshire Centrebus jointly operates the High Peak bus company with the Wellglade Group following the merger of Bowers Coaches and the Buxton depot of Trent Barton. Some services also run into Greater Manchester. Hertfordshire Centrebus run the following services in Hertfordshire: Lincolnshire Centrebus Services The following services are operated by Centrebus in Lincolnshire: Kimes buses On Monday 4 July 2011 Centrebus purchased Kimes Buses of Folkingham. West Yorkshire Centrebus Holdings run the following services in West Yorkshire: NB Services operate as Centrebus (CB), Huddersfield Bus Company (HBC) or K-Line (KL). Harlow Centrebus in Harlow operate the following bus services: Fleet *Alexander Dennis Enviro300 *DAF SB120/Wright Cadet *Scania K230UB/Optare Esteem *Scania OmniCity *Volvo B7RLE/Plaxton Centro *Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban See also *List of bus operators of the United Kingdom References External links *Centrebus website *Centrebus Southern website *Centrebus Midlands website *Centrebus Grantham website *High Peak website simple:Centrebus Leicestershire Category:Transport in Leicestershire Category:Bus operators in England Category:Companies based in Leicester